This page was updated Dec. 2023
The Wellesley RDF is located on the Wellesley/Needham line at 169 Great Plain Ave., Wellesley, MA 02482. Sometimes called “the dump” by residents, the facility is actually a transfer station—stuff comes in, stuff goes out. The town does not provide curbside removal service. Residents haul their own trash, recyclables, and other items to the RDF where they sort, toss, and repeat, as needed.
The Reusables Area has closed for the season. It will reopen spring 2024.
RDF hours for the upcoming holidays
- RDF will close at noon on Saturday, December 23
- CLOSED on Monday, December 25
- RDF will close at noon on Saturday, December 30
- CLOSED on Monday, January 1, 2024
Regular RDF hours, winter 2023-24
Monday-Wednesday: 7am-noon
Thursday-Saturday, 7am-3:45pm
Sunday hours have been discontinued for the winter months. They will resume spring 2024.
The RDF encourages residents to use the area’s recyclables separation system, which results in a cleaner product to sell at market. Revenue from recyclables (about $250-300k/year) goes to the town’s general fund. Some say the RDF’s biggest competition is the waste service companies who, for a fee, pick up residents’ trash and recyclables curbside.
What Wellesley reuses
Wellesley has a Reusables Area where residents drop off old furniture, rugs, toys, books, games, puzzles, lamps, garden equipment, and more. The quest for free, good stuff gets pretty competitive at this volunteers-run area of the RDF. There’s also a books area, the last stop on the way out of the RDF. The Reusables Area is open Wednesday-Saturday and the area closes 30 minutes before the RDF closes for the day. The Reusables Area closes for the season Dec. 2, 2023.
What Wellesley recycles
- boxboard and chipboard
- brown paper bags
- cardboard
- mixed office paper
- newspaper
- refundable containers
- glass
- steel and aluminum cans
- aluminum foil and trays
- plastic bottles
- plastic non-bottles
- rigid plastics
What Wellesley composts
- grass clippings
- leaves
- brush
- bushes
- Christmas trees
- food waste (residents drop it off, and food waste gets picked up by a third-party source)
What Wellesley collects for pick-up by outside contracts
- appliances
- batteries
- computers and monitors
- fluorescent bulbs
- paint
- propane tanks
- tires
- waste oil
- cell phones
- electronics
- eyeglasses
- inkjet cartridges
- bulky waste
- metals
- non-natural wood materials
Special collection days
- Hazardous Waste Day (once/year)
- Paper shredding events (twice/year )
- Paint collection events (first Thursday of every month, April-October, 3pm-6pm)
